Haruhi Suzumiya
Voiced by Aya Hirano (Japanese)
Wendee Lee (English)
Profile
Age 17
Gender Female
Species Human
Occupation SOS Brigade chief and founder/ North High School student (second year)
Title Temporal Distortion (Future Humans), Self-evolution Possibility (Integrated Data Entity), God (Organization)
Haruhi Suzumiya (涼宮 ハルヒ Suzumiya Haruhi?) is the title character of the Haruhi Suzumiya series, created by Nagaru Tanigawa and developed into a media franchise. First introduced in the light novels, which were then adapted into two manga and an anime series, with a forthcoming sequel, she is the main focus of the series. In an interview with Tanigawa, he stated that the idea for her character came during a sleepless night at the beginning of the 21st century.
In the beginning of the story, she is initially shown as anti-social and displayed various personality quirks, but as the series progressed, she became more open with her emotions, whilst still remaining highly active. She became the founder of, and recruiter for, the SOS Brigade, forcibly enlisting Kyon, Yuki Nagato (the only member of the Literature Club), Mikuru Asahina, and Itsuki Koizumi. She is responsible for organizing most of their activities as a group.
Unknown to her, she has the power to change, destroy, or create a new reality based on her inner desires and feelings. She is described in various ways; Yuki states that she has 'the potential for auto-evolution', Mikuru believes that she is the originator of a large time-quake and finally Itsuki declares her to be 'God'. Due to this, she is the main focus of the Integrated Data Entity, the Organization, and an organization of future humans.
Background
Haruhi Suzumiya, a first year student at North High School (in novels 1-8), and second year (in the 9th and latest novel), can be characterized as funny, eccentric, and somewhat unpredictable. In the series, she is introduced declaring her interests in aliens, espers and time travelers and does not care for 'ordinary' human beings. The last thing on her mind is a normal high school life. With a burning desire to find such phenomena in the world, she is generally unapproachable and finds ordinary people boring and uninteresting. As a result of this, many of her classmates choose to avoid and confront her. She deals with her emotions by creating a parallel universe, where she inadvertently releases transparent creatures who tear up and destroy everything that comes into contact with them. Espers are the ones who can stop these creatures by cutting and destroying them, because if these creatures are left alone destroying everything as well as the outer barrier it could affect the outside world. She also likes to dress up Mikuru in random outfits.
Kyon is the first character to engage with her in a serious conversation. From this encounter, she gradually begins to soften up to others and starts to open up with her classmates. Later on, Haruhi took Kyon against his will and forced him to help her start the SOS Brigade, thus she has taken an unknown interests to Kyon later in the series. It is hinted that one of the reasons as to why Haruhi opened up to Kyon was that he resembled John Smith; John Smith and Kyon are the same person.
She is noted as smart, athletic, and naturally talented in any extra-curricular activities. She once joined every activity club in her school and quit because she found them boring, despite pleas by the club members for her membership. Her musical talent was highlighted when she stood in as the emergency lead singer and guitarist, along with Yuki, for the band ENOZ during the school festival.
Her childhood is cited as an originator for her interests in strange phenomena.[2] While attending a baseball game with her family, she was shocked to see the vast number of people who had come to see the game. Before then, she had often thought of herself and her life as being special and interesting, yet then came to realize that they were just ordinary normal occurrences and habits and that she is just one of many living human in all of Japan in which Japan is just part of Earth. Consequently, she believed then that there must be at least one person in the world who is living an interesting and truly unique life and sought out to effectively be that person thus motivating her to seek out the extraordinary.
After this realization she became notorious in middle school for doing odd things which included painting strange hieroglyphs all over the school grounds using a field marker and placing all the school desks in the halls. Additionally, she accepted and rejected every guy who had ever asked her out, the longest lasting a week and the shortest being five minutes. She only seeks relationships with aliens, espers, and time travelers. This shows the depth of her interest in finding non-humans and strange phenomena.
In actuality, Haruhi is believed to be either a crack in the space-time continuum, the first technological singularity to be spontaneously born in the universe, or some sort of deity, depending on point of view. This belief stems from a massive spontaneous universal event that occurred three years prior to Haruhi meeting Kyon, of which Haruhi is said to be the cause. The event attracted the attention of three prominent groups: the Extraterrestrial Integrated Data Entity, time travelers from a distant future, and a group of espers known as the "Agency".
Her powers which are capable of altering, creating, or destroying reality are triggered by her emotions and inner desires. It's been theorized by the espers that the current universe may be just one in a string that Haruhi had subconsciously created. In order to relieve stress whenever she becomes too emotionally unstable, patches of alternate dimension referred to as "closed space" are created and within resides gigantic blue entities that destroy the surrounding area. Despite having these powers Haruhi is completely oblivious to them or the existence of aliens, time travelers, and espers.
Personality
At first, Haruhi seems very indifferent and cold but underneath that front she is very spontaneous, upbeat, and hyperactive. Her determination, persistence, and resourcefulness drive her endeavors of finding strange phenomenon and promoting the SOS Brigade. Because of her dedication, she becomes hot-headed when things don't go her way. Hand-in-hand with her cleverness and creativity, and a certain ruthlessness, even seeming amorality, she can often get what she wants, an example of such is when she blackmailed the Computer Society President into giving her a brand new computer for the SOS Brigade. Haruhi tends to pursue her goals regardless of who gets in the way, or is hurt, such as Mikuru in the aforementioned blackmail. She also has a tendency to be jealous and angry when Kyon gets too friendly with any girl. Evidently, the universe was almost destroyed and recreated when Haruhi's jealousy was pushed too far.
Haruhi also has a very competitive personality and accepts without hesitation any challenge that crosses her, regardless of difficulty or time constraint. Her constant optimism and over-confidence make her seem arrogant. She has very high standards and won't accept anything less than perfection from herself and her Brigade. She places a lot of trust in her Brigade members, especially Kyon, to get the task done whatever it may be. This can sometimes make her seem selfish and unkind.
She is not shy and often attracts a lot of attention to the point of not minding changing clothes in front of various people, more so when her SOS Brigade is in mind. When it comes to Mikuru she is very physically playful. She often comments on Mikuru's attractiveness and seems to find a kind of enjoyment in exploiting it to her own ends, often through forcing Mikuru into and out of various costumes such as a bunny girl costume as if she were a human dress-up doll.
Haruhi also seems to hate showing signs of vulnerability to others. Following her concert performance at the school's culture festival when she and Yuki filled in for two members of the band ENOZ, Haruhi showed awkwardness towards the band members when they thanked her the following day. As Kyon pointed out, Haruhi was not used to receiving praise from others because of how mischievous she regularly acts towards others because of her abnormal interests.
Kyon
Voiced by Tomokazu Sugita (Japanese)
Crispin Freeman (English)
Profile
Nicknames Kyon (by his sister)
Aliases John Smith (by him)
Gender Male
Species Human
Occupation North High student (second year) / SOS Brigade co-founder and fourth seat / series narrator
Kyon (キョン?) is a fictional character, protagonist and narrator of the Haruhi Suzumiya light novel series and the anime series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, voiced by Tomokazu Sugita in the original version of the anime, and Crispin Freeman in the English dubbed edition. The name Kyon is also actually a nickname given to him by his aunt. His sister is responsible for spreading its use to his schoolmates, much to the embarrassment of Kyon, who misses being called Onii-chan (お兄ちゃん? Lit. "older brother") by his sister. Not much is known about Kyon's real name. However, in the ninth volume of the light novel (The Dissociation of Haruhi Suzumiya), his real name is hinted in a conversation between him and Sasaki; a girl who had known Kyon since middle school, saying it was a very majestic name that didn't seem to fit him.
Kyon is one of Haruhi's companions, and the second founding member of the SOS Brigade. Upon his entry into high school, he resigns himself to a lifestyle where his adolescent fantasies such as aliens, time travelers, and espers have no place. After one small conversation with him, Haruhi unexpectedly opened up to him and dragged him into her new club. His reputation and fate have since become entangled with Haruhi's.
Overview
Although Haruhi Suzumiya is the title character, the story is told from Kyon's point of view. He narrates with sarcastic commentary on the various absurdities of Haruhi, club activities and events related to Haruhi. Kyon may also direct his thoughts at Haruhi, which Haruhi might respond to, thus making it unclear whether he is speaking aloud or merely thinking to himself. This could also be interpreted as an ability for Haruhi to occasionally achieve nearly telepathic empathy with Kyon. Kyon's narration follows the format of a Greek Chorus, speaking directly to the audience through internal dialogue. Though a self-described barely-above-average student, Kyon—particularly in the light novels—very often peppers his narration and dialogue with references to ancient mythology, advanced scientific concepts (the laws of thermodynamics, the theory of relativity, etc.), alternately well-known and/or obscure pop culture (he identifies a Marilyn Manson song Haruhi hums in the second light novel), and various esoteric subjects, often comparing the Brigade's situation to a typical role playing game.
He is also the only "normal" human in a club otherwise assembled to include a membership of an alien, esper and a time traveler. This is a cause of curiosity and concern amongst many parties, since Haruhi is "not interested in ordinary humans". Yuki refers to Kyon as an "irregular factor near Haruhi" responsible for an abrupt change in the data around Haruhi. Itsuki goes as far as to investigate Kyon's identity, only to affirm that Kyon is indeed an ordinary human. Asakura herself is quite puzzled by Haruhi's interest in Kyon and asks how it was that he has gotten Haruhi to open up.
He can be very observant and quite intelligent, despite his dismal grades. It is Kyon who solves the murder mystery during the events of the Lonely Island in the light novel, not Haruhi. He had known the truth since the beginning, as he does not believe that Haruhi will wish for someone to die and comes to the truth after he notices several facts.
In an article that interviewed Nagaru Tanigawa, the author admitted that Kyon was originally supposed to be an esper, but while writing The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Kyon was instead portrayed as an ordinary student.
Relation to other Brigade members
Ever since Kyon interacted with Haruhi when nobody in her class would, Kyon becomes Haruhi's main partner for discussion and advice. This includes discussion on the creation of the SOS Brigade to revealing personal thoughts and asking for advice on how to run the brigade. According to Itsuki Koizumi, Haruhi "chose" Kyon, though the meaning of this has not been clarified to the reader, but the general idea is that Kyon is the only one that Haruhi would want to have with her if a new dimension was made. During SOS Brigade meetings, he feels certain that Haruhi should learn that not everything can go her way. With that skepticism, Kyon develops a bond of trust with Haruhi, evidently noted by Itsuki. When thinking of what Haruhi meant to him in comparison to the other three members of the SOS Brigade, Kyon described her as being "more than just a classmate". Throughout the series he develops a sort of love/hate relationship with Haruhi wherein he cannot stand the things she does, but will remain by her side, even though he really does not want to. This is also evident whenever Mikuru is just merely physically close to Kyon, prompting generally violent reactions (one of which was the aforementioned new dimension). When Kyon was placed in a coma for three days, during which the events of The Vanishment of Haruhi Suzumiya takes place, despite the supernatural Brigade members each taking turns looking after him, it was Haruhi who remained with him in all those three days.
Why Haruhi "chose" Kyon, however, seems to remain a mystery, but a very likely reason is because of his resemblance to John Smith, which is amusing since he and John Smith are the same person. A less likely, but still very likely, reason is he is the first person in her class who actually opened up to her when no one else would, something Ryoko Asakura noted herself.
The three brigade members of "supernatural" origin all revealed their secrets to Kyon. Reasons for revealing to Kyon in particular are unknown. All three happen to rely on Kyon for interaction with Haruhi, in a matter such that her boredom would not risk the universe. They also seem to rely on him as a sounding board for their ongoing missions to monitor Haruhi.
Yuki was the first to tell Kyon her true identity, and thereafter Kyon views her as the most reliable member in their brigade. Yuki tends to readily accept commands from Kyon instead of Haruhi, and seems to look to him for his approval when confronted with decisions she must make. Several times, she has saved him from impending death; something that Kyon feels a responsibility to pay her back for. He becomes invested in Yuki's well-being, taking out a library card for her and wondering if she ever gets lonely. Though Yuki is completely expressionless and unemotional, Kyon eventually learns how to sense changes in her moods, such as when he realized she was having fun when they were playing "The Day of Sagittarius III" against the Computer Club.
With Mikuru, a bit of flirtation between the two occur; once, he secretly saves Mikuru's maid pictures, while making Haruhi believe he deleted them. Some sentiment on Mikuru's part can be observed from her future self visiting Kyon; the first time her future self meets him, she tries to offer proof of her identity by showing him the star-shaped mole on her breast, even urging him to touch it to make sure it's not fake. In fact, future Mikuru informs Kyon that he is the one who told Mikuru about the mole when she had no idea herself, though this creates a minor temporal paradox when Kyon tells the present Mikuru about the mole; later, before she returns to her real time, in the anime she embraces him, while in the light novel he tries to kiss her but she stops him. Mikuru's action in the light novel could be due to the dangers of time travelers having relationships with members of the past, or more likely because of the dangerous effect she believes a relationship with Kyon would have on Haruhi. Kyon also stands as the one obstacle preventing Haruhi from the further harassment of Mikuru, and in turn Mikuru looks to Kyon as a sort of protector, becoming overjoyed when he pledges to guard her from Haruhi and grabbing onto his arm on reflex when frightened.
Itsuki has been Kyon's other major source of information, aside from Yuki. Along with his esper powers, he gained certain knowledge regarding Haruhi and various phenomena in relation to her. He reveals some of this information to Kyon; and he even showed him the activities of the Organization fighting large energy monsters within closed space. As the only two male members of the SOS Brigade, they tend to converse among themselves, usually about Haruhi and her inclinations, while the three girls are occupied with different things. Despite this, of the three brigade members, it is Itsuki who annoys Kyon the most, partly because of his relentlessly cheerful personality (which Kyon considers a facade) and wordy lecturing, and partly because of Itsuki's tendency to violate Kyon's personal space by putting his face too close and paying him borderline-outrageous comments. In addition, of all the Brigade members, Itsuki is most likely to agree with whatever idea Haruhi's warped mind thinks up.
John Smith
John Smith (ジョン・スミス Jon Sumisu?) is a pseudonym used by Kyon during one of his travels into the past. He told Haruhi his name is "John Smith" in order to hide his identity. Although just a passing thought to name himself that in the chapter "Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody", it becomes a critical factor in volume four, The Vanishment of Haruhi Suzumiya. Seemingly presented with a normal high school life, a world without Haruhi, the extent of his "normalness" and of his attachment to the Brigade and Haruhi are made evident. "John Smith" is referenced in the first novel and in the anime shortly after Haruhi and Kyon 'first' meet. Haruhi asks him if they had met before, to which he replies that they haven't (which is true, from his perspective). Kyon has said on occasion, at the end of The Vanishment of Haruhi Suzumiya and at other intervals, that revealing he is John Smith will be his last ace in the hole should something arise regarding Haruhi. However, Kyon feels it is a last resort measure in case something like the events of the book happen again in which he has no support from anyone. To that end, he was willing to defy even the Integrated Data Entity, for he realized that while Haruhi was the one with reality-altering powers from which, supposedly, no one was safe, he was the lone exception, the only thing keeping Haruhi from throwing everything out of whack. He realized then that he had become linked with Haruhi (in the intended sense and more), that even something like the Entity wouldn't exist without his keeping Haruhi's powers stable. His revealing himself to Haruhi as John Smith would radically change everything.
Yuki Nagato
Voiced by Minori Chihara (Japanese)
Michelle Ruff (English)
Profile
Gender Female
Species Data Entity
Occupation SOS Brigade fifth seat / North High student (second year) / former Literature Club Captain (technically still acting as such)
Yuki Nagato (長門 有希 Nagato Yuki) is a fictional character in the Haruhi Suzumiya light novel series. She is initially portrayed as an introverted, taciturn bibliophile. She is actually an artificial human created by the Integrated Data Entity, and possesses supernatural powers as a result. She joins Haruhi Suzumiya's SOS Brigade in order to observe her on the behalf of the Integrated Data Entity. In addition, she is present to ensure that Haruhi does not use her godlike powers, and aids the other Brigade members in stopping forces that wish her to do so.
Appearance
Apparently, Yuki has extremely pale skin, as there are numerous times in the original light novels where Kyon describes her face, neck, hands, or fingers (as she flips the pages of the book she is reading) as "white". Also, Kyon always comments on how Yuki has the uncanny ability to walk "soundlessly". Yuki is attractive enough to earn an "A-" grade from Taniguchi.
Background
Yuki Nagato is a quiet high school freshman that is the only member of the SOS Brigade that willingly joined Haruhi's SOS Brigade and was not "voluntarily arrested," or forced into joining, by Haruhi Suzumiya. She was a member of the Literary Club, whose other members were all seniors who graduated, leaving Yuki the sole member of the club. She lives alone in the same apartment complex as Ryōko Asakura, in room 708. She wears glasses and her school uniform at all times, permanently discarding the former only after Kyon told her that she was cuter without them, and first wearing a different outfit when the SOS Brigade went on vacation to a remote island.
Yuki is a "humanoid interface", or artificial human, created by the Integrated Data Entity for the purposes of interacting with and observing events on Earth. Specifically, she has been created to observe Haruhi, who can create huge quantities of data from nothing. Haruhi represents the potential for an evolution in autonomy; an ability that the Integrated Data Entity does not have.
As an artificial human, she has numerous paranormal abilities. She is capable of manipulating the properties of the environment and any materials within it at any scale to her desire, referred to as "bogus magic" by Kyon. For instance, she can modify a baseball bat to hit only home runs, nullify data links (removing other artificial interface connections from their bodies), plus she is able to make a cover up story (since Ryōko was gone, she made a cover up story that she moved to Canada), and reconstruct a classroom, down to the last detail, after everything in it was completely destroyed. As a result, she is capable of feats of superhuman strength, agility, and stamina. In one instance, she was unfazed while impaled by multiple metal spikes, and effortlessly reconstructed her body afterwards. Her state also affords her an extreme level of intelligence. She can comprehend the rules and concepts of a game instantaneously, as well as create flawless strategies based on her observations, and was able to learn how to play a guitar mere moments after receiving one. However, she has been seen to be fallible, such as when she reconstructed the devastated classroom but forgot to reconstruct her broken glasses. Yuki also has a lack of understanding towards social norms and earth technology, as demonstrated by her bluntly literal future predictions and her clumsy attempts at using a computer mouse. This is likely due to her self-imposed state of near-total isolation in order to interfere with as little of the environment around Haruhi as possible.
Personality
Yuki has a very stoic and introverted personality, preferring simple body language rather than speaking. When prompted to speak, she does so in a very concise manner, always speaking in a monotone and displaying a dispassionate expression. She thinks very rationally, and finds it difficult to communicate with normal humans due to her intelligence and lack of empathy. She enjoys reading, and is seen reading a book in the majority of her appearances, typically of the science fiction or mystery genres. As the series continues, she displays an enjoyment of computer games and develops a sense of humor, although her unchanging facial expressions make it near-impossible to discern whether she is joking or not. Despite her reserved manner, she is reliable and trustworthy, resulting in Kyon trusting her more than any other member of the SOS Brigade. Though seemingly cold and devoid of emotions at first glance, Yuki subtly shows a genuinely warm care and concern for her fellow SOS Brigade members, Kyon in particular. This is shown by her keeping Kyon warm with her cardigan as he fell asleep in the club room, and her taking care of Mikuru when she fainted from terror in the "Murder Island" incident. At the end of The Vanishment of Haruhi Suzumiya, she also expresses gratitude towards Kyon's promise to protect her from being deleted with a simple "thank you" (even though up this point, expressing gratitude or emotion is supposedly uncharacteristic of her).
Mikuru Asahina
Voiced by Yuko Goto (Japanese)
Stephanie Sheh (English)
Profile
Gender Female
Species Human
Occupation North High student (third year; junior in English anime) / SOS Brigade Deputy Vice Commander & "mascot" / time traveler
Mikuru Asahina (朝比奈 みくる Asahina Mikuru) is a fictional character from the Haruhi Suzumiya light novel series. She is the fourth member to make an appearance, and is also the only character other than Kyon to be brought into the SOS Brigade against her will. She is defined by Kyon to be extremely cute, and is often sexually harassed by Haruhi Suzumiya. She is in fact a time traveler from the future with the purpose of observing Haruhi Suzumiya during the course of the story line. One possible way of writing her name in kanji is 未来, meaning "future". She is voiced by Yuko Goto in the Japanese anime adaption and Stephanie Sheh in English version.
Background
Considered one of the most beautiful girls in high school, Mikuru, a second-year high school student (a junior in the English anime), is described as being an "untouchable flower on the mountain" by the male student body. Her popularity among the boys, however, doesn't detract her from being very shy and easily embarrassed. Before being forced to join the SOS Brigade, she was originally a member of the Calligraphy Club. She's best friends with Tsuruya, who is also a second-year student. In addition to starring in the SOS Brigade's amateur-movie in the first episode, both Mikuru and Tsuruya were waitresses for The Acorn, a short-stop dine-in for fried soba that was run by all the girls in Mikuru's class during the school festival.
Unlike Haruhi and Yuki, Mikuru has no athletic ability. She does, however, show a gift for brewing and making tea and is often praised for it by Kyon.
Mikuru is actually a time traveler, sent back to investigate a massive timequake that occurred three years prior, the cause of which is Haruhi. As a result of this event, time-travel beyond that point had become impossible. Mikuru is very knowledgeable about the science and theories of time and time-travel and shows it when giving Kyon a brief explanation about why she is in his time plane. She refers to her presence in the past as like adding an extra picture in a flip book. Because of the dangers involved with time-travel, as well as the sensitivity of the mission, most information regarding the future, Haruhi, Yuki, Itsuki and herself are highly classified. She states this whenever Kyon asks her questions involving such topics. There have been instances when she was instructed by Kyon, without the consent from her future peers, to travel back in time in order to alter certain events relative to the Brigade. For the most part, Mikuru strictly follows standard protocol and obeys any orders given by her superiors in her organization. Additionally, she is forbidden in engaging in any romantic relationships with anyone outside of her original time span.
An older, adult Mikuru from farther into the future traveled back in time to give Kyon some critical information regarding future events relative to his time span. However, like her younger time-variant, she was still unable to go into much detail and was only able to provide short, rather vague pieces of information. Also, she was strictly prohibited from letting her younger self become aware of her presence in the same time and had to plan accordingly.
Yet, despite all these precautions and limitations, she accidentally let slip a small bit regarding the star-shaped mole on her chest, which she never knew she had until Kyon told her about it, when proving that she really was Mikuru. Kyon was completely unaware of this mole until she told him it was there, despite the past fact that she didn't know about it until he told her, thus creating a minor time loop.
In order to differentiate between the older and younger versions, whenever the older self is present in the same time span, Kyon refers to her older self as Asahina-san (big) and to the younger Mikuru as Asahina-san (small). Despite both names ending in -san, the differentiation is in the inclusion of (big) and (small) that is written in the light novels. Kyon never uses the -chan suffix to refer to Mikuru.
Personality
A shy and timid girl with a childish naïveté, Mikuru is depicted as kind, caring and thoughtful. She easily gets scared or flustered, more so in times whenever Haruhi is involved and makes her do embarrassing things. Apparently prone to daydreaming, she can also be rather clumsy at times. Nevertheless, she can be surprisingly resilient and is capable of recovering from even the most discomforting of situations. However, because of her gentle nature she seems rather helpless most of the time. Kyon sees it as his duty to always watch over and protect her; although when it comes to Haruhi there is no rescue.
Despite being reluctant to continue after the bunny-girl incident, where she was forced to wear a bunny-girl costume and pass out fliers on school grounds, Mikuru remains loyal and dedicated to the Brigade as well as her mission as a time-traveler.
Itsuki Koizumi
Voiced by Daisuke Ono (Japanese)
Johnny Yong Bosch (English)
Profile
Gender Male
Species Human
Occupation SOS Brigade Vice Commander / "Agency" member (esper) / North High student (second year)
Itsuki Koizumi (古泉 一樹 Koizumi Itsuki) is a fictional character from the Haruhi Suzumiya light novel series; in the anime he is voiced by Daisuke Ono in the original version, and Johnny Yong Bosch in the English dubbed edition. Itsuki is the last member to have joined the SOS Brigade, having been recruited by Haruhi as a "mysterious transfer student". Itsuki was sent to observe and keep Haruhi emotionally stable, in order to protect the rest of humanity. Although he is an esper, which is exactly one of the sorts of people Haruhi desires to meet, Itsuki never reveals himself as such, at least, not to her.
Personality
Itsuki is constantly smiling and always speaks in a formal and polite manner. He is also prone to giving long and detailed explanations, usually illustrated by exaggerated hand gestures. Itsuki has confirmed to Kyon once that his outer personality is merely an artificial image he fakes in accordance to Haruhi's impression of him, and hints that his true character is something quite different, being "less pleasing" in the eyes of others. Maintaining his casual, constantly smiling self, however, is vital for keeping Haruhi's mentality balanced. Kyon himself thinks that he prefers seeing him smiling instead of looking melancholic, although the feeling makes him uncomfortable.
Out of the four Brigade members, Kyon is initially the least fond of Itsuki. He often finds himself annoyed with Itsuki's plastic smile, his willingness to acquiesce to Haruhi's outrageous schemes, playful teasing and his various forays into his psychological and philosophical theories (e.g., omphalos hypothesis, Anthropic principle, etc.). He is also distrustful of Itsuki's intentions, comparing him to Yuki Nagato when it comes to deciphering his expressions. However, he eventually comes to trust Itsuki, and despite his constant protests, is more often seen conversing with Itsuki than any of the other members, Yuki usually being completely silent and Mikuru usually being abused by Haruhi. Itsuki's fondness for speculation often causes him to produce explanations for situations involving the SOS Brigade, its members and related events. Ironically, Itsuki can only share his theories with Kyon and also enthusiastically plays different kinds of board games with him to pass the time, despite losing all the time. Despite Kyon's less-than-enthusiastic approach to the SOS Brigade and the various external forces at work around it, Itsuki is usually the one to explain supernatural phenomenon to Kyon when necessary.
Although Itsuki was named official second-in-command by Haruhi for providing the Brigade a place for their vacation/mystery investigation (Remote Island Syndrome Part I), this title appears to be little more than formality since, in every aspect, Kyon is still technically Haruhi's right-hand man.
Itsuki is often seen fighting various Shinjin in closed spaces throughout the anime. During these instances, Itsuki displays some of his esper abilities. His esper attacks are named "Fumoffu" and "Second Raid", both references to the mecha anime Full Metal Panic!.
Agency
Itsuki is a member in a secret association which he simply refers to as the "Agency" (機関 Kikan, "The Organization" in the English dub). The members of this society consist of special humans known as espers who gained unique ESP-like powers and special knowledge regarding Haruhi three years ago. Since then, they have been actively protecting humanity by fighting giant beings known as Shinjin (神人 Lit. "godlike person") within the closed spaces generated by Haruhi. Should the destruction of the Shinjin be left unchecked, the Closed Spaces generated would eventually take reality's place. He often gives his gratitude to Kyon for keeping Haruhi emotionally stable, and in turn, reducing the workload he and his colleagues are required to perform.
Despite the theory he advances in which Haruhi is the equivalent of God, Itsuki says that there are many differing lines of speculation about Haruhi within "The Agency". Itsuki himself does not believe in a singular God, although he reveals that he has colleagues that do. Apparently, most of the questions that he raises about Haruhi's true nature are philosophical in nature and do not necessarily represent his personal beliefs. Itsuki also reveals that the majority of "The Agency" advocates are observing Haruhi instead of doing anything that might provoke her.
Itsuki has also revealed that there are other factions that have not yet been revealed by Haruhi, and that "The Agency" is often in conflict with the other factions backing their respective agents within the SOS Brigade (not to mention various groups which have either not put in an appearance or appear to be enemies). For example, he suspects that Mikuru was chosen by the time-travelers for her beauty and for her ability to seduce Kyon, in order to control the group dynamic within the SOS Brigade, although Itsuki later suggests that he had been lying about this suspicion.
Relationship with other SOS Brigade members
Haruhi recruited Itsuki to the SOS Brigade as the stock "mysterious transfer student" manga character. Itsuki's relationship with Haruhi seems to comprise of him agreeing with her every demands and actions. This has been stated by Kyon himself, who called him Haruhi's 'yes-man'. During the events of the light novel The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, in the alternate world created by Yuki where everyone has normal lives and no memory of the SOS Brigade (with the exception of Kyon), Itsuki is a normal transfer student in the elite Kōyōen School (in the original world it is a prestigious girl's school), and claims that he fancies Haruhi, who is his classmate. He is also concerned with Haruhi's well being in the normal reality. It could be due to the fact that Closed Spaces appear when she is upset, but it could also be his genuine concern of her, as he had observed her with "The Agency" during the three years prior to Haruhi meeting Kyon. At one time in the light novel, Itsuki actually snapped at Kyon when he commented that Haruhi only causes trouble for everyone, even when she is asleep.
Itsuki seems to be the only one in the SOS Brigade that observes Yuki almost as much as Kyon. Whenever an extraordinary event occurs, he formulates his own theories and tries to enter into discussion with Yuki. Itsuki seems to get along with Mikuru Asahina, however both the organization he belongs to and Mikuru's superior have conflicting ideas regarding Haruhi. Mikuru even personally went to Kyon's class with Tsuruya to ask Kyon to disbelieve Itsuki's theories regarding Haruhi. Itsuki also seems to distrust Mikuru's future self, telling Kyon to be wary of her.
Out of all SOS Brigade's members, Itsuki gets along with Kyon the most. Although Kyon gets annoyed with him most of the time, he often discusses his concerns with him. At times, he even shows Kyon his true self behind the smiling facade, and only Kyon notices when Itsuki is particularly upset or concerned with things. Itsuki constantly tries to get Kyon to realize Kyon's importance to Haruhi, and has expressed amazement and surprise that Kyon does not realize this fact yet. He has told Kyon that he wishes for the time when he could be his friend normally, where his duties as an Esper wouldn't matter. However, when Kyon shrewdly asks him whether he will truly be satisfied with that, he avoids the subject.
